Leap Year comes every four years, or so we think. Perhaps we can be forgiven to believe in four-year frequency of the month of February having an extra day. When we were taught the fact during school, we may have been too young to learn about exceptions to the four-year rule.

The working rule for a year to be called a leap year depends on the days in the month of February. If February has 28 days, its not a leap year. If it has 29, it is a leap year. Pretty clear thing as reflected in last line of the English poem 'Thirty days has September...'

The six-line poem, which finishes off tally for 11 months of the year in just three lines, takes next three just to explain what's the deal with February.

For those preferring mathematical precision than linguistic ramblings, the general test to find out whether a year is a leap year or not, is simple. If the four-digit figure of a particular year is completely divisible by 4, the year is a leap year. If it's not completely divisible by 4 and yields a remainder during the calculation, the year is not a leap year.

So far so good?

The 'divisible by four' test means that leap years should come every four years. And this is what we normally imagine.

But like that famous Morpheus meme from Matrix, what if I told you that what you believed your whole life about leap years is...well, not a lie but rather an incomplete truth?

Unnecessary dramatic effects aside, the commonly held rule about leap years has exceptions.

<h2>What's the exception to the four-year rule of leap year?</h2>

If a year is divisible by 4, it is not a test enough for it to grab the tag of a leap. If it is divisible by 4 but is also divisible by 100, the year is not a leap year. This is why years 1800 and 1900 were NOT leap years.

But what about year 2000? The dreaded Y2K was a leap year for sure.

Yes, year 2000 was a leap year.

This is an exception to the rule described above (stay with us).

So if a year is divisible by 4 but also by 400, then it becomes a leap year even if it is divisible by 100.

Take a deep breath, read it again. It's pretty simple. Happy leap year to you!

(With inputs from agencies)

Leap Year comes every four years, or so we think. Perhaps we can be forgiven to believe in four-year frequency of the month of February having an extra day. When we were taught the fact during school, we may have been too young to learn about exceptions to the four-year rule.

Leap Year comes every four years, or so we think. Perhaps we can be forgiven to believe in four-year frequency of the month of February having an extra day. When we were taught the fact during school, we may have been too young to learn about exceptions to the four-year rule. The working rule for a year to be called a leap year depends on the days in the month of February. If February has 28 days, its not a leap year. If it has 29, it is a leap year. Pretty clear thing as reflected in last line of the English poem 'Thirty days has September...' The six-line poem, which finishes off tally for 11 months of the year in just three lines, takes next three just to explain what's the deal with February. For those preferring mathematical precision than linguistic ramblings, the general test to find out whether a year is a leap year or not, is simple. If the four-digit figure of a particular year is completely divisible by 4, the year is a leap year. If it's not completely divisible by 4 and yields a remainder during the calculation, the year is not a leap year. So far so good? The 'divisible by four' test means that leap years should come every four years. And this is what we normally imagine. But like that famous Morpheus meme from Matrix, what if I told you that what you believed your whole life about leap years is...well, not a lie but rather an incomplete truth? Unnecessary dramatic effects aside, the commonly held rule about leap years has exceptions. What's the exception to the four-year rule of leap year? If a year is divisible by 4, it is not a test enough for it to grab the tag of a leap. If it is divisible by 4 but is also divisible by 100, the year is not a leap year. This is why years 1800 and 1900 were NOT leap years. But what about year 2000? The dreaded Y2K was a leap year for sure. Yes, year 2000 was a leap year. This is an exception to the rule described above (stay with us). So if a year is divisible by 4 but also by 400, then it becomes a leap year even if it is divisible by 100. Take a deep breath, read it again. It's pretty simple. Happy leap year to you! (With inputs from agencies)

Leap Year may not come every four years, after all. Check out why

Even though "Leapers" pick another date to make sure they have an annual birthday, their age is technically younger than most. February 29 can be a curious day, given it's a relatively rare occurrence. There's also something of a mystique surrounding the day and unusual traditions.

February 29: The day of the 'leaplings' has arrived!

2024 is a leap year. It means this year will have 366 days instead of 365, and the second month, February, will have 29 days instead of 28. Generally, a leap year comes every four years.

2024 is a leap year. It means this year will have 366 days instead of 365, and the second month, February, will have 29 days instead of 28. Generally, a leap year comes every four years. The last leap year was 2020, while the next leap year will be 2028. However, many are unaware a leap year does not come every four years, making a few years an exception. Here's everything you need to know about a leap year, its calculation, its origin, and the exceptions to this 'every four-year' rule. Leap Year: Why do we need it? A year in the solar calendar depicts one revolution the Earth makes around the Sun. The Earth takes 365 days, five hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds to complete one revolution around the Sun. Thus, scholars, engaged by Roman General Julius Caesar in 46 BC, rounded the year to 365 days. They multiplied the remaining six hours by four to make it 24 hours (one day) and added it to every fourth year. This way, they made up for the extra time and introduced the concept of the leap year to account for variations in crop cycles and seasons that occurred at different times of the year, which confused people. ALSO READ | Child onboard 'donkey flight' not missing, reports are false: Gujarat top cop Not Every Fourth Year Is A Leap Year There's an exception to the leap year rule. Since, the six hours used for calculation differed from the actual 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds, adding an extra year did not solve the entire problem. It made the solar year slightly shorter than the calendar year. In the 16th century, Pope Gregory XIII ordered the cancellation of ten days from the calendar on October 4 to compensate for the accumulated ten extra days. After the declaration, October 15 came the very next day. However, his one-time drastic action did not solve the accuracy issue. Later, scholars decided that about one leap year, every century would not have 366 days to manage the extra day. They chose years ending with 00 for this. However, this threw the calculations out of whack. Later, it was decided that the years ending with 00, which were divisible by 400, would be called leap years. Thus, 1900 and 2100 will not count as leap years, but 2000 will. (With inputs from agencies)

2024 is a leap year. But not every fourth year is a leap year. Here's why

The children of the world have long learned to memorise the leap-year formula, that is, after every four years February has 29 days instead of 28 and the yearly number of days become 366 from 365. But the fact that has not made to the textbooks in parts of the world is that since 1972, we occasionally add an extra second, a leap second, by the end of a day.

The officials, however, are now proposing an end to the leap year practice. A vote is expected at a meeting of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Versailles on November 18, to abandon the leap year practice by 2035. The IBWM instead wants the world to embrace atomic time until global timekeepers come up with a better plan.&nbsp;

Why the IBWM wants to change the way world measures time?

According to international conventions, a day comprises of 86,400 vibrations of an atom of cesium-133. However, every day there are some vibrations other than these 86,400 vibrations that cannot be added further in the day for mathematical uniformity. So in 1972, scientists added an extra second to the end of an atomic day.&nbsp;

Also, the Earth's rotation is unpredictable. Moreover, precise timing has become integral to world's highly computerised infrastructure. Financial transactions, GPS navigations are all functions of a second.

Data packages related to these financial transactions must be time-stamped to that fine level of precision, recorded and made traceable back to Coordinated Universal Time, the universally agreed-upon standard managed by the timekeepers at the B.I.P.M.&nbsp;

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/pacific-ocean-island-nation-turns-to-metaverse-as-climate-change-threatens-existence-534392">Pacific Ocean island nation to build country on metaverse as climate change threatens existence</a>

Every additional leap second introduces the risk of confusion that some digital networks won’t implement the change correctly, won’t know precisely what time it is with regard to the other systems, and will fail to synchronise properly.

“What was before just a way of measuring the flow of time is today essential for transportation, location, defense, finance, space competition,” Felicitas Arias, former director of the time department of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, was quoted as saying by New York Times.&nbsp;

A vote, in the form of Resolution D, is expected on Nov. 18 at a meeting in Versailles of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures.&nbsp;

“Time is ruling the world," he said further.&nbsp;

When was leap year practice first established?

The leap year practice was first established by Julius Caesar over 2,000 years ago. It was modified in the 16th century by Pope Gregory XIII, leading to the creation of Gregorian calendar.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="350" loading="”lazy”" src="https://www.wionews.com/live-tv/embed?autoplay=1&amp;mute=1  width=&quot;100%&quot;"></iframe>

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us <a href="https://www.wionews.com/content-contribution-registration-form">here</a>.

The children of the world have long learned to memorise the leap-year formula, that is, after every four years February has 29 days instead of 28 and the yearly number of days become 366 from 365.

The children of the world have long learned to memorise the leap-year formula, that is, after every four years February has 29 days instead of 28 and the yearly number of days become 366 from 365. But the fact that has not made to the textbooks in parts of the world is that since 1972, we occasionally add an extra second, a leap second, by the end of a day. The officials, however, are now proposing an end to the leap year practice. A vote is expected at a meeting of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Versailles on November 18, to abandon the leap year practice by 2035. The IBWM instead wants the world to embrace atomic time until global timekeepers come up with a better plan. Why the IBWM wants to change the way world measures time? According to international conventions, a day comprises of 86,400 vibrations of an atom of cesium-133. However, every day there are some vibrations other than these 86,400 vibrations that cannot be added further in the day for mathematical uniformity. So in 1972, scientists added an extra second to the end of an atomic day. Also, the Earth's rotation is unpredictable. Moreover, precise timing has become integral to world's highly computerised infrastructure. Financial transactions, GPS navigations are all functions of a second. Data packages related to these financial transactions must be time-stamped to that fine level of precision, recorded and made traceable back to Coordinated Universal Time, the universally agreed-upon standard managed by the timekeepers at the B.I.P.M. ALSO READ | Pacific Ocean island nation to build country on metaverse as climate change threatens existence Every additional leap second introduces the risk of confusion that some digital networks won’t implement the change correctly, won’t know precisely what time it is with regard to the other systems, and will fail to synchronise properly. “What was before just a way of measuring the flow of time is today essential for transportation, location, defense, finance, space competition,” Felicitas Arias, former director of the time department of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, was quoted as saying by New York Times. A vote, in the form of Resolution D, is expected on Nov. 18 at a meeting in Versailles of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures. “Time is ruling the world," he said further. When was leap year practice first established? The leap year practice was first established by Julius Caesar over 2,000 years ago. It was modified in the 16th century by Pope Gregory XIII, leading to the creation of Gregorian calendar. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

What is a leap second and what to do with it? International organisation to decide this week

leap-year

Leap Year, News on Leap Year, stories on Leap Year, articles on Leap Year, Leap Year stories at Wion, Leap Year news, Leap Year latest news